P7zip: The Best Way to Handle 7z Files on Mac
P7zip for Mac: A Comprehensive Guide
If you are looking for a powerful and versatile compression tool for your Mac, you might want to check out P7zip. P7zip is the Mac version of the popular Windows decompression application 7-Zip. It can handle a wide range of compression formats, such as 7z, ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and more. It also offers some features that make it stand out from other compression tools, such as high compression ratio, strong encryption, split archives, and more.
P7zip For Mac
In this article, we will show you how to install P7zip on your Mac, how to use it from the command line using Terminal, and how to uninstall it if you no longer need it. We will also provide some tips and tricks for using P7zip more efficiently and effectively. Finally, we will mention some of the alternatives to P7zip that you can try if you are looking for a different compression tool.
How to Install P7zip on Mac
There are several ways to install P7zip on your Mac. Here are some of the most common methods:
Using Homebrew: Homebrew is a popular package manager for Mac that allows you to install various software with ease. To install P7zip using Homebrew, first update your brew formulae to be sure you are getting the latest P7zip:
$ brew update
Then use Homebrew to install P7zip:
$ brew install p7zip
Downloading from the official website: You can also download P7zip directly from the official website. There you can find different versions of P7zip for different platforms and systems. For Mac OS X (arm64 / x86-64), you can download the console version of 7-Zip. After downloading the file (which is in .tar.xz format), you can extract it using another compression tool (such as The Unarchiver) or using this command:
$ tar -xvf 7z2201-macos-arm64.tar.xz
This will create a folder called 7z2201-macos-arm64 (or similar) in your current directory. Inside this folder, you will find the executable file called 7za. You can move this file to any location you want (such as /usr/local/bin) or create an alias for it in your .bash_profile or .zshrc file.
Using a third-party app : If you prefer a graphical user interface (GUI) for using P7zip, you can use a third-party app that supports P7zip. For example, you can use Keka, a free and open source file archiver for Mac that can create and extract 7z files. You can download Keka from its official website or from the Mac App Store. After installing Keka, you can use it to compress and decompress files using P7zip.
How to Use P7zip on Mac
Once you have installed P7zip on your Mac, you can use it from the command line using Terminal. To launch Terminal, you can go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal, or use Spotlight to search for it. In Terminal, you can use the following syntax to use P7zip:
$ 7z [...] [...] [@listfile]
The 7z command is the main command for P7zip. The <command> parameter specifies the operation you want to perform, such as adding files to an archive, extracting files from an archive, listing the contents of an archive, testing the integrity of an archive, etc. The <switches> parameter specifies the options you want to use, such as encryption, compression level, split archives, etc. The <archive_name> parameter specifies the name of the archive file you want to create or manipulate. The <file_names> parameter specifies the names of the files you want to add to or extract from the archive. The @listfile parameter specifies a text file that contains a list of file names.
Basic Commands
Here are some of the most common commands you can use with P7zip:
7z a: This command adds files to an archive. For example, to create a 7z archive called test.7z that contains the files file1.txt and file2.txt, you can use this command:
$ 7z a test.7z file1.txt file2.txt
7z x: This command extracts files from an archive with full paths. For example, to extract all files from test.7z to the current directory, you can use this command:
$ 7z x test.7z
7z l: This command lists the contents of an archive. For example, to see the names and sizes of the files in test.7z, you can use this command:
$ 7z l test.7z
7z t: This command tests the integrity of an archive. For example, to check if test.7z is corrupted or not, you can use this command:
$ 7z t test.7z
Advanced Options
Here are some of the advanced options you can use with P7zip:
-p<password>: This option sets a password for encrypting or decrypting an archive. For example, to create a password-protected 7z archive called secret.7z that contains the file secret.txt, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -p1234 secret.7z secret.txt
-m<method>: This option sets the compression method for creating an archive. For example, to create a 7z archive with ultra compression level and LZMA2 algorithm, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -mx=9 -m0=lzma2 test.7z file1.txt file2.txt
-v<size>: This option creates split archives with specified size. For example, to create a 7z archive that is split into 10 MB parts, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -v10m test.7z file1.txt file2.txt
Tips and Tricks
Here are some useful tips and tricks for using P7zip more efficiently and effectively:
Creating aliases: If you want to save some typing time, you can create aliases for the 7z command in your .bash_profile or .zshrc file. For example, you can create an alias called zip that compresses files using P7zip with the default settings:
$ alias zip='7z a'
Then you can use this alias instead of the 7z command. For example, to create a 7z archive called test.7z that contains the files file1.txt and file2.txt, you can use this command:
$ zip test.7z file1.txt file2.txt
Using wildcards: If you want to compress or extract multiple files that match a certain pattern, you can use wildcards to specify them. For example, to create a 7z archive that contains all the files with the .txt extension in the current directory, you can use this command:
$ 7z a test.7z *.txt
Integrating with Finder: If you want to use P7zip from the Finder without opening Terminal, you can create a service that runs a shell script with P7zip commands. To do this, follow these steps:
Open Automator and choose Service as the document type.
In the top right corner, set the service to receive selected files or folders in Finder.
Drag and drop a Run Shell Script action from the library to the workflow area.
In the shell script box, enter the P7zip commands you want to run on the selected files or folders. For example, to compress them using P7zip with the default settings, enter this:
for f in "$@" do 7z a "$f.7z" "$f" done
Save the service with a name of your choice, such as Compress with P7zip.
Now you can right-click on any file or folder in Finder and choose Services > Compress with P7zip to create a 7z archive.
How to Uninstall P7zip on Mac
If you no longer need P7zip on your Mac, you can uninstall it depending on the method of installation. Here are some of the ways to remove P7zip from your Mac:
Using Homebrew: If you installed P7zip using Homebrew, you can uninstall it using Homebrew as well. To do this, run this command:
$ brew uninstall p7zip
Deleting from the official website: If you downloaded P7zip from the official website, you can simply delete the executable file (7za) from your system. To do this, locate the file (such as /usr/local/bin/7za) and move it to the Trash.
Using a third-party app: If you used a third-party app that supports P7zip, such as Keka, you can uninstall it using the same app. To do this, open Keka and go to Preferences > Compression > Formats > 7z. There you will see an option to uninstall P7zip. Click on it and confirm your action.
Alternatives to P7zip on Mac
P7zip is not the only compression tool available for Mac. There are many other alternatives that you can try if you are looking for a different compression tool. Here are some of the popular ones:
The Unarchiver: The Unarchiver is a free and open source file extractor for Mac that can handle many formats, including 7z, ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and more. It also supports password-protected and split archives. You can download The Unarchiver from its official website or from the Mac App Store.
Keka: Keka is a free and open source file archiver for Mac that can create and extract 7z files as well as other formats, such as ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and more. It also offers some features such as encryption, compression level, split archives, and more. You can download Keka from its official website or from the Mac App Store.
WinZip: WinZip is a commercial file archiver for Mac that can create and extract 7z files as well as other formats, such as ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and more. It also offers some features such as encryption, compression level, split archives, cloud integration, and more. You can download WinZip from its official website or from the Mac App Store.
Conclusion
P7zip is a powerful and versatile compression tool for Mac that can handle many formats, such as 7z, ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and more. It also offers some features that make it stand out from other compression tools, such as high compression ratio, strong encryption, split archives, and more. In this article, we showed you how to install P7zip on your Mac, how to use it from the command line using Terminal, and how to uninstall it if you no longer need it. We also provided some tips and tricks for using P7zip more efficiently and effectively. Finally, we mentioned some of the alternatives to P7zip that you can try if you are looking for a different compression tool.
We hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!
FAQs
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about P7zip on Mac:
Q: What is the difference between 7z and 7za?
A: 7z is the main command for P7zip on Mac. 7za is the executable file name for the console version of 7-Zip that you can download from the official website. They are essentially the same program with different names.
Q: How can I open 7z files on Mac without installing P7zip?
A: You can use a third-party app that supports 7z files, such as The Unarchiver, Keka, or WinZip. You can also use an online service that can extract 7z files, such as ezyZip or Archive Extractor. However, these methods may not support all the features of P7zip, such as encryption or split archives.
Q: How can I compress files using P7zip with the highest compression ratio?
A: You can use the -mx=9 option to set the compression level to ultra. You can also use the -m0=lzma2 option to set the compression method to LZMA2, which is the most advanced algorithm for 7z files. For example, to create a 7z archive with ultra compression level and LZMA2 algorithm, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -mx=9 -m0=lzma2 test.7z file1.txt file2.txt
Q: How can I encrypt files using P7zip with the strongest encryption?
A: You can use the -p<password> option to set a password for encrypting your files. You can also use the -mhe=on option to encrypt the file names as well as the file contents. For example, to create a password-protected and encrypted 7z archive called secret.7z that contains the file secret.txt, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -p1234 -mhe=on secret.7z secret.txt
Q: How can I split files using P7zip into smaller parts?
A: You can use the -v<size> option to create split archives with specified size. For example, to create a 7z archive that is split into 10 MB parts, you can use this command:
$ 7z a -v10m test.7z file1.txt file2.txt dcd2dc6462